Aaron Rollins was a senior who enjoyed
the outdoors. Seth Bartell is a freshman who liked to skateboard and
snowboard, quiet but a good kid, according to those who know him.
About the only thing Rollins and Bartell had in common was that
they were in the wrong place at the wrong time at Rocori High
School on Sept. 24, 2003. Officials and teachers said there was no indication that they
and John Jason McLaughlin, the 15-year-old suspected of shooting
them, were any more than passing acquaintances.

UNDERSTANDING SCHOOL VIOLENCE

The National
Research Council Institute of Medicine published
Deadly Lessons: Understanding Lethal School Violence
analyzing school shootings in other communities,
in a attempt to find common factors. Read
the report online and listen to an interview
with Katherine Newman, who contributed to that research
study. Listen.

YOUR VOICE

What
can we do to prevent violence in schools? What can
parents, teachers, students, and citizens do to
prevent shootings and fatal violence in our schools?
If you were to suggest a plan of action, what would
it be? More....

Students
return to schoolby
Jeff Horwich Dozens of adults lined the long
sidewalk leading into Rocori High School Friday and applauded as
students walked to class for the first time since a fatal shooting
there on Wednesday. (09/26/2003)

Freshman
charged with shootingby
Tim PostProsecutors filed a second degree
murder charge against 15-year-old Jason McLaughlin on Friday in
Stearns County. McLaughlin's lawyer says the state attorney general's
office has filed papers to have the boy charged as an adult. (09/26/2003)

Witnesses tell the storyby
Tim Post Giving the first detailed account
of the attack, investigators Thursday said the suspect pulled a
.22-caliber gun from a gym bag as he walked out of a locker room,
then fired two shots, hitting the victims.
(09/25/2003)

The
shootingby
Tim Post Churches in the central Minnesota town of Cold
Spring held special services to mark the end of a tragic day. A 15-year-old
boy shot two of his classmates at Rocori High School around noon. One of the
students died, another is in critical condition. Students and teachers in Cold
Spring now begin the work of trying to recover.
(09/24/2003)

A
struggle to recoverby
Annie Baxter and Tim
PostCold Spring residents have already
mourned and buried one of their own, and still grieve over another.
Aaron Rollins, 17, was laid to rest Monday and Seth Bartell, 14,
is still in critical condition at St. Cloud Hospital. Children and
adults are grasping for ways to communicate their feelings. (09/30/2003)

Teacher is considered heroEven at 50, and even under stress, Mark Johnson was intimidating enough to disarm with a shout a high-school freshman who had already allegedly shot two students. The 6-foot-2, 225-pound former football coach was sitting on the bleachers in the Rocori High School gym Wednesday, preparing for his next class when he heard a sound he couldn't tune out.
(09/25/2003)AudioHow
healing happensby
MPR's All Things ConsideredOn April 28, 1999, a 14-year old boy killed
one student and wounded another at W.R. Myers High School in Taber,
Alberta. The suspect had dropped out of school after he was severely
ostracized by his classmates. He had over 400 rounds of ammunition
on him that day, and he did not have a relationship with his victims.
Kevin Cameron is a school counselor in Taber. He led the crisis
response team on that day and has since become a national expert
on school trauma recovery. (09/25/2003)

The
teacher who stopped the shootingVeteran Rocori teacher Mark Johnson was in the gymnasium at the time of the shooting. Johnson, who's tall and imposing, was talking with students when he heard shots fired.
(09/25/2003)

School
safety in Minnesotaby MPR's MiddayThe National School Safety Center reports
that the Cold Spring shooting was the first and only homicide in
state history. But it has raised questions about school safety in
Minnesota. (09/25/2003)

Did
bullying play a part?by
MPR's Morning EditionMorning Edition host Cathy Wurzer spoke with Sheryl Harmer, the director of program development at "Committee for Children," a national nonprofit organization that focuses on violence, bullying, and student learning. (09/26/2003)